DDR4-3600 memory offers the same gaming performance as DDR5-6000

A few days ago we showed you a compilation of some reviews that compared the performance of DDR4 vs. DDR5 in some applications, and today we found it interesting to share with you these results obtained by TechPowerUp in its tests that compare these two memory standards, since we can see how a DDR4-3600 memory kit can compete without problem against a DDR5-6000 kit that it can cost up to triple the cost.

As we can see, averaging the results of the 10 games that TechPowerUp tested, the difference between a DDR4-3600 C16 kit and a DDR5-6000 kit is only 0.9%, so it doesn’t make much sense to pay triple for a DDR5-6000 memory kit. The complete results can be seen on the TechPowerUp page by clicking here, although we already anticipate that the difference is practically the same in all the tests.

In the tests of applications that exclusively use the CPU, the difference is a little bigger, reaching an average of 4.1% lower performance when making the same comparison. In some applications that take advantage of the extra bandwidth of DDR5 the difference can be up to 29%, although in most applications the difference is practically nil. Again, we leave the link for you to see all the tests by clicking here.

In this way, for 99% of users it is not necessary to pay the expensive price of upgrading to DDR5, since the DDR4 memories that they may already have in their system are still an excellent option and will not lose too much performance compared to DDR5. Also remember that Raptor Lake will also be compatible with DDR4, so it will not be an impediment to upgrade to the next generation in the future, so we recommend continuing to use DDR4 and if you have the extra money that it cost to move to DDR5, invest it in some other component before that in new memories that will not grant greater performance.

What do you think about the almost zero difference in performance between DDR4 and DDR5? How long do you think it will take for DDR5 to deliver a noticeable performance improvement?